Synopsis

As soon as he entered high school, the first year student Koshiyama Shiki was invited to the mysterious Quiz Study Group led by his senpai. What will Shiki run into when being dragged along by his class mate Mari into the dazzling world of competitive quizzes?!

Do you guys like competitive "sports?" Do you get excited about seeing people compete with different ideologies and aspirations? Well look no further, you may or may not find that in Nana Maru San Batsu (which I will now call FFF)! It depends on what kind of taste you have. I personally would compare it to Chihayafuru because the concept of being the fastest in both respective sports is reflexes and finger speed. FFF surprised me with how well executed the journey is and how interesting a quiz bowl could be. I personally wouldn't do this at all, but I can see it being
a really competitive thing and that's what matters.

What FFF does right is constantly developing the main character Koushiyama. Since he is the main character we are following, it is important that he doesn't get overshadowed by other characters, who are admittedly plot devices with no real development on their own. It's challenging to fit engaging characters throughout the whole run time due to the 12 episode constraint as well as obligatory rule explanations. However, FFF does it to a pretty good degree, putting characters in the limelight here and there and really showing their personalities. Koushiyama is undoubtedly the most developed of the cast, albeit perhaps a little too one dimensional. He has tremendous upside in the quiz bowl because he is a nerd to begin with. So naturally, he is rather decent at Quiz Bowl, but watching him develop into an above average player felt satisfying because the competitors all had more intense motivations and clashing ideologies about the sport. It made for an engaging narrative since there are implications like: do what you love and screw what other people say, move forward, relentlessly etc. It was really impressive for something that doesn't have a synopsis that'd pull much viewers.

The animation is okay, it sometimes used it to its advantage and visually show us the inner working of people's minds with decent symbolism. Other then that, nothing really stood out to me and the OST is likewise forgettable. Heck, I can't remember any track playing.

All in all, I came in with no expectations (as i usually do) and finished wanting more. It truly has potential and a longer run time would exponentially improve the development of characters. I really appreciate the passion displayed by these athletes, since I know the feeling of doing something nobody respected. Do what you love and you'll never work a day in your life folks.

Quizzes and more quizzes. They could be fun if the watchers feel the same interest in both the questions and the participants. If you don't like quizzes shows, then you immediately will consider Nana Maru San Batsu (Fastest Finger First) as a total waste of time, and the only fastest finger that you will end seeing is yours when you "change" for other show.

I had been thinking how to rate this anime. Should I evaluate the questions, should I rate the quizzes modules, should I rate the characters? After a lot of thinking, I considered there is nothing to measure here.

The story is the typical
"nerd" with his glasses and every detail (Koshiyama). The destiny gave him the possibility to talk with a group of persons and ended joining the quizzes club from the school because Mari Fukami asked him. Then the story focuses on the game meetings against other schools, where Koshiyama finds a rival (Mikuriya). The climax appears when Koshiyama can't press the button faster, the inability to answer a certain group of questions, and when he challenges Mikuriya. So they spend a couple of minutes when Koshiyama starts analyzing the problems and figures a possible answer. That's all the story, nothing more. There are some unconcluded parts, for example, Mari's brother.

The characters are the typical members of a school club with nothing special on them. They are in that club because they like it and will participate in the events because why not? The background of most of the characters they like quizzes, they study them, they need faster fingers, and ¡hey I found a rival!.

The art and the music are what I consider standard nothing impressive here and nothing to complain about it.

Finally, the characters do a little monologue when they try to figure an answer. It is the same repetition from question to question so you could end tired even if you like quizzes. Will I recommend this show to you? Maybe but you will consider it tedious.

I personally love the concept of discovering something you love and truly being passionate about it. This show is exactly that.

Story:
Good story, I love seeing characters strive to become better. The idea pf animating something like quiz bowl is definitely unique. There are certain stories are not concluded which I find annoying. 7/10

Character:
KOSHIYAMA: An intersting character, like i said I love seeing pasionate characters so I really liked him
FUKAMI: Honestly I didn't care much for her. She was really only there for the main female character appeal and her brother's backstory
SASAJIMA: Calm cool and collected, there could be more back story to him
MIKURIYA: His rivalry
with Koshiyama was interesting but he's literally just another kid who likes quiz bowl,there could be some expansion on his character
6/10

Art:
I liked the character design and everyone is distinguishable. There are a few parts where the art is not so amazing but I can overlook that. 7/10

Sound:
Loveee the OP and ED! So catchy! Voice acting was good except for Fukami. Her voice actor isn't necessarily bad but her voice doesn't give a young high school student vibe like it should. 7/10

Other stuff:
The subtitles kind of ruin the curiosity of wondering when they will press their button. It would be interesting to see this dubbed.

It's not often you'll see an anime based around a quiz game. This is what initially brought me to try Nana Maru San Batsu. To quickly summarize some of my thoughts on the anime, I though the art and animation were average at best, and apart from the amazing opening song, the same thing can be said about the soundtrack.A lot of the characters were either annoying or uninteresting. The way the story is presented, it feels more like a shounen rather than the seinen it actual is. The major positive I can say for the series is that when it got to doing the
quiz scenes the anime became incredibly interesting to watch. Often it feels like I'm playing alongside the characters in the show, trying to guess the answer before they do. As a result of this, I got a lot of enjoyment from Nana Maru San Batsu despite how average everything else in the show was.
While there could have been better execution, I was satisfied with my experience with this show.